Skoda Auto India Pvt. Ltd. vs Commissioner of Central Excise

Whether CESTAT by its impugned decision dated June, 2012 2012 (28) S.T.R. 391 was justified in directing the appellant to deposit 50% of the duty confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority for entertaining the appeal against the order-in-original is the question raised in this appeal. The appeal is admitted on the above question and taken up for hearing by consent of parties.

The basic dispute in this appeal is whether the pre-delivery inspection charges and after-sales service charges incurred by the dealer are includable while computing the assessable value in the hands of the Appellant-manufacturer. This court in the case of M/s. Tata Motors Ltd. Vs. Union of India and The Commissioner of Central Excise, has quashed notification issued by the revenue in that behalf. In this view of the matter, in our opinion, this is a fit case where the appeal should be heard on merits without insisting for any pre-deposit. Accordingly, the impugned order is set-aside and CESTAT is directed to hear the appeal on merits without instating on pre-deposit. The appeal is disposed of in the above terms with no order as to costs.